Home Location: Clinton, Ontario
Creator Type: Author
Genres: Middle-grade fiction
Website: www.joannelevy.com
Tour Region: Quebec
Target Audience: Grades 3 and up
Cost: $300* (for one 60-minute presentation)
*(The author collects $250 of the fee and $50 of the fee covers The Canadian Children's Book Centre's administration fees for coordinating Book Week).
Taxes charged on presentations: YES
BIOGRAPHY
Joanne Levy is the author of the award-winning Sorry for Your Loss, a book set in a Jewish funeral home, inspired by the one her dad manages. Her other books include Bird Brain, Small Medium at Large, The Sun Will Come Out, Fish Out of Water, and the upcoming Let it Glow that she cowrote with NYT bestselling author, Marissa Meyer. She can usually be found at her computer, either creating spreadsheets (sometimes just for fun) or channeling her younger self into books. Joanne lives in rural Ontario, Canada with her husband and several pets, one of whom vomited during the writing of this bio.
PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS
Being a Writer and Making a Book: From Idea to Bookshelf
Target audience: Grades 3 and up
Preferred group size: no maximum or preference
Required equipment: screen and projector; microphone for large groups or in echoey rooms like gyms
Required materials: none
Join award-winning author Joanne Levy as she talks about what it takes to write a book. Taking examples from her long and sometimes bumpy road to publication, Joanne covers topics like, persistence and never giving up, learning to accept and move on from failure, finding strength in rejection, and famous people who didn’t let failure stop them. She also pulls back the curtain on the process of how a book is made, from the kernel of an idea, to drafting and the rounds of edits and why revision is so necessary. She also includes several screenshots of her editing process and what it’s like working collaboratively with an editor. Joanne also discusses the process of cover design and shows why it’s a good idea that she doesn’t make her own book covers. This session also includes plenty of time for Q&A where Joanne will answer any/all questions about her, her pets, being an author, writing, and even life’s most pressing questions, like which is better: waffles or pancakes.
Getting Started: The Importance of Hooking Readers from the First Line
Target audience: Grades 3 and up
Preferred group size: 30 students
Maximum group size: 60 students
Join award-winning author Joanne Levy in this fun, interactive, and informative workshop where she will discuss who she is, and how she came to be a writer. After a brief presentation about the importance of grabbing the reader from the first page, Joanne will ask the attendees to guess the openings of several books (classics and recently published) and share if they find them intriguing. Would they keep reading? Why? Why not? Do they see any similarities in themes or devices across the samples? After discussion, participants will then be tasked to write the beginning of a story of their own from either something they are already thinking about or a prompt that Joanne will provide. After a short period of writing, attendees will be invited to share their stories (optional). This session also includes plenty of time for Q&A where Joanne will answer any/all questions about her, her pets, being an author, writing, and even life’s most pressing questions, like which is better: waffles or pancakes.
Required equipment: no technology required
Required materials: to write their story, each student will need paper with pen or pencil or a laptop
NOTE: Since participants are required to write, a classroom setting might be best.